LANSING, Mich. – Even Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s detractors (and there remain quite a few in our polarized times) have to admit she managed to accomplish most of the objectives she laid out in her State of the State address back in January.
Such is the power of a politically aligned legislature. The checked boxes are testimony to the old saying, “Elections have consequences.”
I traveled to Sutton’s Bay to sit down with the governor. Her office couldn’t seem to find time for an interview a little closer to home like, say, Lansing. But who doesn’t want to head to the Leelanau Peninsula in the summer?I’m in.
Whitmer is getting a lot of national attention at the moment. The New Yorker profiled her in a piece titled “How Gretchen Whitmer Turned Michigan into a Democratic Stronghold” last week. More than a few Democrats might suggest it’s a little early for dancing in the end zone, despite the Michigan GOP’s current disarray.
And she’s enjoying the moment, no doubt. But as I mentioned at the end of today’s story, her smooth sailing may be interrupted by an odd set of circumstances. Democrat Lori Stone is running to be mayor of Warren, and fellow Democrat Kevin Coleman is running to be mayor of Westland. Should they win, they would vacate their legislative seats, and that would mean a 54-54 split in the Michigan House.
We haven’t had an even split in the house since 1994.
When I asked Whitmer about this looming possibility, she allowed a quick laugh, but she’s not wild about the prospect of losing such an important, if small, edge -- one that delivered so many of her priorities over the last six months.
We may have an idea of what’s ahead soon. The primaries for Stone and Coleman are Aug. 8. Should either lose, the Democratic majority would hold. But if they both win, they would then move on to the general election in November, and we would wait for this odd little quirk to play out.